Elk Grove Village, Il. – United States president Joe Biden said on Thursday, more Americans businesses should obligate workers to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, labelling the decision vital to ending the pandemic and sustaining the economy.
Biden last month ordered all federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated, and for private employers with 100 or more workers to require staff to be vaccinated by December 8 or get tested for the novel coronavirus weekly.
That order covers 100 million people, about two-thirds of the American workforce.
“Today, I’m calling on more employers to act,” Biden said.
“My message is: Require your employees to get vaccinated. With vaccinations, we’re going to beat this pandemic finally. Without them, we face endless months of chaos in our hospitals, damage to our economy and anxiety in our schools.”
The president intensified his plea on a visit to the construction site of a future Microsoft Corporation data centre near Chicago. The construction firm, Clayco, said it planned to implement immunisation or testing requirements for all employees.
Biden highlighted other vaccination success stories, including a move by Chicago-based United Airlines to set an October deadline for all employees to be fully vaccinated, the first U.S. carrier to do so.
Biden praised other airlines and businesses that followed suit, including entertainment company Walt Disney, drugstore operator Walgreens Boots Alliance and Microsoft.
Immunisation requirements have broad public support, and Wall Street economists agree higher vaccination rates will stoke economic growth and add jobs, the Democratic president said.
(Reuters)
